Technological innovation in Europe is losing ground. Back in the late 1990s, Nokia dominated the mobile phone market, holding a 40 percent share. Europe led advancements in solar technology and claimed a remarkable 30 percent market share in computer chips – today, that number has plummeted to just 10 percent. Even in cloud computing, Europe lags behind, with only a few noteworthy providers of hardware and software. Approximately 70 percent of the global cloud market is currently controlled by U.S. hyperscalers operating massive data centers.
In light of today’s geopolitical challenges, Europe faces three pressing risks in the cloud computing space: financial volatility stemming from trade disputes with the U.S. and China, operational vulnerabilities such as “kill-switch” scenarios, and critical security threats such as the uncontrolled flow of sensitive data and intellectual property. Now, more than ever, Europe needs a credible alternative to these hyperscalers. That alternative has been existing for over 10 years, offered by T-Systems, called T Cloud Public.
T-Systems has been a cloud pioneer since 2004 – long before the term “cloud computing” even existed. Back then, our service was called “Dynamic Services”: interconnected servers handled customers’ tasks, eliminating the need to purchase machines and instead offering on-demand computing resources. These servers were self-managing, distributing workloads autonomously and recovering extensive simulation calculations in the event of hardware failures.
In 2014, we launched one of the largest cloud data centers in Biere, Germany, and added another facility in 2018. Today, the combined site spans approximately 11,000 square meters, housing 100,000 servers and hosting over 970 petabytes of data. A twin facility in Magdeburg ensures full redundancy, providing secure backup for Biere’s data and operations. Biere was among the first German data centers to earn Tier III certification from the Uptime Institute in 2022. This certification guarantees that all critical infrastructure – power supply, cooling systems, and more – is designed redundantly, ensuring 99.98% uptime. With its robust power backup system, the data center remains operational even during a blackout lasting several days.
Originally launched in 2016 as the Open Telekom Cloud, the T Cloud Public has been built for sovereignty from the start, adhering to the “Sovereignty by Design” philosophy. Exclusively operated in Europe, the cloud is based on an OpenStack architecture and incorporates transparent security and encryption mechanisms to ensure customers maintain full control over their data. Access from outside Europe is excluded by design, and dependencies on specific providers are significantly minimized.
T Cloud Public complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), alongside other European data privacy standards and industry-specific regulations. Independent certifications, such as ISO/IEC 27017 and BSI C5 Type II, verify adherence to these legal frameworks regularly. Notably, the T Cloud Public has three times as many certifications as other European alternatives, making it fully compliant even for regulated industries.
By bundling all our cloud activities across the entire Group under one roof, we can offer every customer the cloud solution that meets their specific requirements. This creates the basis for exponential growth. In this way, we will ensure digital sovereignty and support European independence in the global cloud landscape.
Lars Neumann, responsible for T Cloud
Today, more than 4,000 enterprise customers use T Cloud Public from three countries, with the Netherlands and Switzerland joining the list in 2021. Our biggest customers include public institutions such as the European Space Agency (ESA), health insurance providers, and, of course, Deutsche Telekom itself. Over time, T Cloud Public has grown into Europe’s leading hyperscaler, as confirmed by independent analysts. T-Systems’ platform ranked as the European leader in the Forrester WAVE Public Cloud Platforms In Europe, Q3 2024, and has consistently been rated a market-leading Public Cloud solution by ISG Provider Lens™ since 2019. According to the Information Services Group (ISG), T Cloud Public outperforms many U.S. hyperscaler offerings and is clearly positioned ahead of all other European alternatives.
In the summer of 2025, Deutsche Telekom consolidated its cloud offerings for enterprise customers under the T Cloud umbrella brand. Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2026, the Open Telekom Cloud was renamed T Cloud Public.
Businesses no longer need to choose between sovereignty and hyperscaler capabilities. T Cloud Public already offers 80 percent of core functionalities equivalent to those of U.S. hyperscalers, with plans to reach 100 percent by year-end. With this, T Cloud Public becomes the first true alternative to traditional hyperscalers. It is Europe’s leading hyperscaler in cloud computing, built for today’s needs.
You may have heard about the cutting-edge AI factory that T-Systems recently launched in Munich. This facility has increased Germany’s AI computing capacities by a staggering 50 percent – all at once. Thirty meters underground, 10,000 of NVIDIA’s latest-generation processors are powering the Industrial AI Cloud. With the exception of GPUs, every other component relies exclusively on German vendors. We call this the “Germany Stack”. This platform is being used by companies such as Perplexity AI for training, universities and startups for advancing the Sovereign Open Source Foundation Model (SOOFI), and innovators such as PhysicsX for AI-driven simulations. For example, testing a new aircraft wing profile now takes just 10 seconds – instead of four days.
Together, our cloud solutions complement each other perfectly – the Industrial AI Cloud specializes in training AI models and running advanced computations, while the T Cloud Public delivers cost-efficient, high-performance computing and storage.
There is no longer any reason to overlook German cloud offerings. They are on par with those of U.S. hyperscalers – with the sovereignty aspect as the bonus. With T Cloud Public and the Industrial AI Cloud, European businesses now have a real choice.
